How to Cook Crispy Bacon

Unless you’re a vegetarian you probably love to eat bacon. With good reason it has become one of the most popular foods on the planet. After all, what would breakfast be like without some delicious, crispy bacon? That brings us to a commonly asked question, how do I cook crispy bacon? Because of its thin cut and high fat content, making your bacon perfectly crispy can be a little bit tricky at times. In this article I will give you three easy methods of cooking bacon. I will explain how to successfully crisp bacon on your stove top, and in your microwave or conventional oven.

One thing you may be wondering before we get started, which of these methods would I consider the best? Well, let’s see… the frying pan is by far the hardest and it’s extremely messy. The microwave is by far the easiest but at times the bacon will stick horribly to the paper towel. That leaves us with the oven, the o-so glorious oven. The oven brings the total package by giving the bacon both great flavor and texture. With all that being said, if you want to impress someone with your cooking skills, use the fry pan. If you’re in a hurry, use the microwave but if you want the best results go with the oven! Alright then, let’s begin.

Method 1: Cooking Bacon in a Frying PanStep 1: Add 3-4 slices of bacon to a cold large frying pan and turn the heat to medium-low. What you want to do here is cook as much fat off the bacon as you can without it burning. In other words you want to use high enough heat that it cooks the bacon, but low enough that it doesn’t burn.Step 2: As your bacon is cooking constantly turn it over so that it cooks evenly on both sides. If too much fat collects in the pan you’re going to want to drain it. During this process there shouldn’t be any black on the edges of the bacon at all. If there is that means it’s burning and you need to turn down the heat. Depending on how thick your slices are or how many are in the pan, your bacon should be done in about 10-15 minutes. You will know it’s done when it turns a deep brown color. When finished drain on paper towels. The bacon should not be fully crisp while it’s still in the pan. It will crisp after the paper towels soak up the fat.

Method 2: Cooking Bacon in the Microwave

Step 1: Place 2 plain white paper towels on a plate, and place 3-4 strips of bacon on top without overlapping them. Now place a paper towel on top of the bacon or else it will splatter all over your microwave! Just gently place the paper towel over the bacon without pressing down on it. If you do the bacon will stick to it badly while it cooks.Step 2: Put your bacon into the microwave and microwave on high for 3 minutes. Check and see if your bacon is done. If it isn’t, microwave for an additional 30 seconds or until it’s crispy.

Method 3: Cooking Bacon in the OvenStep 1: With your oven rack in the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.Step 2: Line your baking pan with aluminum foil. The one I use is about 1 ½ inches deep but you could use one that is about ¾ of an inch deep. Now separate your slices of bacon and place them side by side on the baking sheet.Step 3: Place your baking pan into the oven. During the cooking process if fat becomes excessive you should take your pan out of the oven and drain it off.Step 4: The bacon should be crisp into about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer bacon onto paper towels to soak up the fat.

84 Responses to “How to Cook Crispy Bacon”

I have never been a great cook. I’ll admit it lol However we own a small farm and recently had a pig processed so I have a freezer full of bacon and I’ve never had too cook it before in my life. Thanks for these quick and easy steps. my husband should be very pleased

Peace,
P

x1134x — June 5, 2011 @ 2:35 pm

is it ok to cover the pan in the oven to prevent bacon spatter all over the inside of the oven?

Michelle — June 23, 2011 @ 5:16 pm

I have just found this and can pretty much guarantee that in the morning i will be going to Tesco to buy bacon to try this out. Thank you so much

Simply Sharon — June 27, 2011 @ 3:45 pm

Looking forward to BLTs for dinner. I have never had much luck with the fry pan OR the microwave. This site reminded me that I used to use my Pampered Chef stoneware in the oven to cook bacon. I had forgotten. I think that is the way I will do it tonight. I think I might even try the really thick bacon we got from the neighbors pig.

Question… is this the best way if you want to crumble the bacon for recipes?

Bobby — June 28, 2011 @ 5:08 am

Simply Sharon- Yes, this is the best way if you want to crumble bacon!

Penny — July 21, 2011 @ 2:32 pm

Delicious! Thanks for the tip. I was going to just put bacon in a sauce I was making, to go with chicken. But instead, crisped up the bacon and put it on top. My husband was a big fan.

JIMMYBOWN — July 27, 2011 @ 9:29 am

i just microwaved bacon, yea son

Mme. St. Pierre — August 30, 2011 @ 9:09 pm

Ah! bacon! Nothing like it for breakfast with eggs and toast! And, oui, je suis Canadienne!

Bob — October 10, 2011 @ 7:30 pm

I use the microwave most usually … I start with four paper towels without tearing them. Fold so that there are three under and one to fold over. I use a bacon griddle … a plate works about as well. This will handle five slices easily. I Microwave for four minutes and then rotate 1/4 turn. Then I finish out for a total of 1 minute per slice plus one minute. Works great and no sticking to towels.

Thanks so much for sharing this! I tried the baking method and it was – by far – the best bacon ever!!!

Sezen Bickici — December 22, 2011 @ 4:19 pm

thank you for your nice explanation i love crispy bacon but when ever i try it never becomes the way i want to i ll be tryiong your microwave tip hopefully it works.

Hazel — January 5, 2012 @ 9:16 am

Nice one.
Cheers from England. Im going out specially to get straky bacon. This will go well in the burger im about to make.
2 things though.
Cooking meet in a microwave seems like sacrilege to me
What is with americans and teaming up bacon and sweet things?
(I did however find out in arizona that crumbling bacon in american pancakes is heavenly)

stones222 — January 17, 2012 @ 12:50 am

the frying pan one worked like a charm cheers!

Ashley — March 19, 2012 @ 1:57 pm

My bacon is currently in the oven. I can’t wait to eat a bacon sandwich…mmmm! Thanks! This is going to beat heating it in the microwave.

I like your post, because I loooove bacon. The pig is my favorite animal of all. I do actually prefer make bacon on the floppy side and not so crispy, but your methods are solid. I’m definitely not a microwave user, but the frying pan and oven are ways I’ve used before. Pork belly is king!

Sharon — July 3, 2012 @ 10:11 am

I’m going to make a wild guess here, but if you want a decent amount of bacon you almost have to use the oven? According to fry-pan directions, you’d have to wait for the pan to cool to do the next few slices. Seems like a pain, to me.

That being said, I have done the oven way and I really do like it.

Bobby — July 3, 2012 @ 10:00 pm

Sharon- yes, the oven would be the best method if you are cooking a decent amount of bacon.

Tom — September 12, 2012 @ 7:01 am

I was directed here after attempting to cook bacon with the below result. Thank you.

Hi Bobby. Thanks for this – extremely helpful as I’ve never been able to cook great bacon.

One thing – and I know you’re going to find this hard to believe – but the USA isn’t the centre of the universe and the internet goes world wide! Who would have thought? So 375 degrees F = 190 degrees C.

With that said, I live in Australia, and went to my local farmers market and bought some organic bacon and used your method a a few tips from your readers – thanks Tara for the tip that you don’t need to heat up the oven, and Aimee for suggesting putting the bacon on cooling racks. The bacon was devine!!!

Shelby — October 13, 2012 @ 10:23 am

I’m new at cooking, and I’ve always been really scared to cook bacon on the stove top because I was afraid I’d burn myself! Tried this today, and it turned out wonderful! Thank you for the awesome tips! (:

Jasmine — November 11, 2012 @ 11:06 pm

Which of these options would make the crispiest bacon without burning?

Bobby — November 12, 2012 @ 10:22 pm

Jasmine – All of these options will make crsipy bacon without burning. I would recommend using the oven but make sure you keep an eye on it.

wow….i made it in a fry pan….till dark brown and had to drain the fat 3 times during heating…
finally after 10 mins…. i added pepper…its so yummy thanks for the idea this was my first time to have bacon in my life and i cooked so yummy …from now on wards no chicken only bacon

velvetvonblack — February 11, 2013 @ 9:58 am

wow I’m making american style breakfast tomorrow for Shrove Tuesday in Britain, going to try the oven method hope it turns out well thanks for the easy step instructions

Andy — March 10, 2013 @ 1:35 am

Hi

Just did this for the wife on monthers day, we had american pancacks with crispy bacon, Amazing! did pan and oven method both worked great. thanks!

Thank youuuu!!! I’m a veggie and I’ve never cooked it before in my life but I thought I’d surprise my boy with a little meaty treat, turned out perfect!!

Marten — August 24, 2013 @ 2:12 pm

I just read this at 7am in the morning and could not believe the microwave would work. So I tried it with one strip.

After about 2.5 mins it stopping popping so I checked it and I had a crunchy bacon strip. Amazing and tasty.

Thanks

Bacon lover (i need no name) — October 8, 2013 @ 12:12 pm

8:05 in the morning and i wake up, i walk over to the fridge as the cat follows in my sleepy foot steps, i open the fridge and what do i see? 6 peices of bacon just for me. i let out a little sigh of happiness and pull out the packet, as i put it on the bench my cat moans, i sprinkle cat buiscuts into his bowl, then, i remember the bacon.

you see, i have always cooked bacon by heating up the pan with abit of oil, then putting the bacon in the sizzling pan and shying away from the popping oil but i was sick of surrendering to the oil demonds so i went onto google and looked up “how to cook crispy bacon” and this site popped up! so thank you for that and i will be sure to see this sight again!

after cooking my bacon and watching go crispy, i decided to eat a peice, the flavours rushed through my mouth like a sea of colours, my hand imediatly stretched out for more but within minutes it was all gone. i let out a hurt wheez, i have a bacon addiction and i can’t fix it…

so thanks for giving me… the perfect recepie.

P.S i can’t spell for shit

P.P.S do you make cup cakes?

Junebug — October 17, 2013 @ 9:29 am

I am totally blown away at this site. I ran across it just in time for our “Boss’s Day” pot luck at the office and I’m on the list for . . . BACON! Since I have quite a few to cook for, I am going to try the oven method, wish me luck! And thank you and thanks to everyone who left all these great replies too!!!

I tried cooking my bacon in the toaster oven and it came out GREAT!! It took about 5 mins longer cuz I didn’t preheat the oven. I also loosely covered the bacon w/foil and it didn’t spatter and make a mess. Thanks for your suggestions. Worked GREAT!

hs — December 19, 2014 @ 3:40 pm

Just a note for 2014 and beyond. The latest dietary science points to a diet high in fat and low in carbs. So, don’t soak up the bacon fat and toss it away. Save it to cook some eggs. Just a thought. I’m using the oven method right now…. stay tuned for some crispy results!